Becky Ward, from Dundee, is one of two Scottish players lucky enough to be part of the British ladies’ team that won hockey gold at the Olympic Youth Festival in Sydney last month.

The 20-year old student, who has been with the Tayside and Fife Institute of Sport for three years, played in every game of the competition.  The final eventually culminated in a ‘golden-goal’ 3-2 win over hosts Australia in a dramatic final on January 17th.

In The Winning Zone caught up with Becky both before and after the tournament.  Initially speaking to her in late December, shortly before she departed with Team GB for Australia, Becky was incredibly excited by the prospect of representing Britian at Olympic level...

BEFORE – 29 Dec 2008

“I was part of the Scotland under-21 squad for the European Championships in Prague in July, but before I left I got a letter inviting me to attend a GB training camp to make the squad. 

“I went down to Bisham Abbey where I was thrown in with a lot of other girls.  It was cut down to 22 eventually.  There were two more camps after the first one, and at the end of the third one it was selection time.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking.  On the last Sunday they told us they had made the selections, and they would email us at 9am on the Monday morning!  So I was awake at 7.30am, not able to sleep, waiting for the email to come through!

“I opened it and it said ‘Congratulations, you have made the final 16 for the Youth Olympics,’ I couldn’t believe it, I was over the moon!

“Unfortunately I couldn’t tell anyone because the official press release wasn’t released yet. But I told my parents, and my Mum had a wee scream down the phone!

“This will be the biggest stage I’ve ever played on.  I have played European under-21, and I played senior indoor for Scotland in the ‘A’ division, but this is in a multi-sport event under the GB flag, so it’s massive.

“It will be a really high standard, and the heat will play a huge part too.  It will be pretty unpleasant, but we’ll have to get used to it.

“I’ve been training hard, with my club and the Institute of Sport as well.  I’ve been putting in a lot of running sessions.  The club got us a few extra pitch sessions too which helped.

“We went to Spain for some training matches.  We played a couple of boys’ clubs and got thrashed! We lost 4-1 in the first game and it was even more in the second, but it definitely helped us a lot.

“We’re playing New South Wales Institute of Sport as a warm-up match, where I expect a few Olympians will be kicking about, so that’ll be a real test for us.

“We’re determined to carry on from the winning team of 2007, and personally it is a great stepping stone in my career too.”
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However, if the excitement was palpable before Becky left, it was nothing compared to how she felt upon her return, as part of a victorious GB team, retaining their crown from the 2007 festival...

AFTER – 21 Jan 2009

"To beat Australia was amazing. We played them four times in total as we had a couple of test games before we even started. In the final we finished the game at 2-2 and went into extra time where the ‘golden-goal’ rule applies [first goal wins the match].

“We scored in last 30 seconds, which was unbelievable!  We had worked so hard for the whole game, so it was such a relief.

“There were four teams in the event: India, USA, Australia and us. The Indians have such good one-on-one skills, and hit the ball right through you. It was good to experience the different styles of play.

“It was all a bit surreal to start with because I had never played for the British team before and it was such a big stage to get to, but it was a great to play in a multi sport event, and experience something a bit bigger.

“It was also very helpful to have experience of playing in the same style as the GB senior team; the style, the patterns, what is expected of you in different positions and what you have to do to get to the top.  It was good to see what they are looking for and what you have to do to get to the top.

“I felt I played well and we did a lot of training when we were out there. It makes you want to put the work in because you know you can get the reward like we had.   All in all, very worthwhile!

“My aim for 2009 [after such a frenetic start,] is to get into the Scotland senior squad.  I got my first two senior caps against Ireland in November last year. It’s the European championships in Holland in August in the ‘A’ division.  I am working hard towards that.”

RO & RE-J
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